Deep-dish rum-vanilla custard pie is pure, unapologetic decadence. Rich custard, flavored with dark rum and real vanilla, is speckled with chocolate chips and baked inside a buttery gluten-free crust.
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This mint jelly belongs at the dessert table. A simple combination of fresh mint, water, sugar, and gelatin - it's delicious on its own or topped with whipped cream. The flavor is fresh, herbal, and distinctly minty; not minty in the way that peppermint extract is minty, but the real fresh mint flavor. Its hard to describe, but trust me: there is something special about fresh mint gelatin.
Mint is the star here. I start with a bowlful, freshly harvested from the garden and washed, and steep it to make a mint tea. Then I add sugar and gelatin and let it set in the refrigerator. It really is that simple.
The result can be as casual or as elegant as you like. Cut it into cubes for easy serving, or let it set in little glasses and finish with a spoonful of whipped cream. The same jelly can be an afternoon treat or a pretty dessert to end a dinner.
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(1) Bring 3 cups of water to a rolling boil in a medium saucepan with a capacity of at least 1½ quarts. Remove from the heat and add the mint.
(2) Let the mint steep for 10–20 minutes, depending on how strong you like the flavor.
(3) Meanwhile, pour ¼ cup cold water into a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the surface and let stand until hydrated.
(4) Strain the mint infusion into the saucepan, discarding the mint. Add the sugar and bloomed gelatin.
(5) Heat gently, stirring until the sugar and gelatin are completely dissolved. Allow it to simmer for a minute or two if needed to dissolve the sugar, but do not return it to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat.
(6) Pour into individual serving dishes or a container larger than 1 quart. Refrigerate until set, allowing 2–3 hours for an initial set or up to 8 hours for a firmer texture.
(7) Shortly before serving, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Spoon over the individual servings of mint jelly.
Makes ~6 servings.
This is an easy dessert to whip up - only a few minutes of active prep time are required once you have your mint harvested. The rest of the time spent on it is waiting for the mint to infuse, or waiting for it to firm up in the refrigerator. This is the perfect recipe to make the day ahead.
Other than accounting for the time it will take to firm up, the biggest "hurdle" in making mint gelatin dessert is acquiring your mint.
This recipe calls for 2 cups of fresh mint. This is an approximate amount.
Fresh herbs are hard to measure. You can pack the leaves in for more mint, or loosely fill your measuring cup. I personally use 2 cups of lightly packed mint leaves, give or take.
Some time before I intend to make mint jelly, I harvest a bowl full of fresh mint sprigs. I then wash them, dry them, and remove the leaves from the stems. Then I leave the leaves out for at least 30 minutes. This gives them time to dry, and time for any bugs left after washing to wander away.
Then I measure out 2 cups of loosely packed mint, and am ready to make my jelly dessert.
Why, you grow it, of course! While grocery stores may have packets of fresh herbs, they are unlikely to have them inexpensively available at the quantity required for this recipe. Fortunately, mint is ridiculously easy to grow. Check out my mint growing guide for tips on how to grow mint, as well as more ideas on how to use mint.
Gelatin is pure protein. Specifically, protein derived from collagen. It is colorless and odorless (if its not odorless its probably bad!) and comes in either powdered or sheet form for cooking.
I use Knox gelatin envelopes for this recipe. Each envelope contains approximately 1 tablespoon of gelatin powder.
I have never use gelatin sheets with this recipe, but in theory, 6 sheets of leaf gelatin should do the same trick as the 2 envelopes of powder.
The addition of whipped cream is what makes this dessert more than just "homemade jello." I like simply whipping the cream in my stand mixer until it achieves soft peaks, and then spooning it on top of the jelly. No sugar needed, in my opinion. There is plenty in the dessert already.
If you want to keep with the "homemade" vibe, try to get some fresh local cream. I covered the differences between real cream and whipping cream - as well as where I get mine locally - in my sugar cream pie recipe notes. The short version is that whipping cream has additives to help with the whipping. Fresh local cream likely does not have additives... and ironically, it tends to whip up faster for me. It also tastes delicious.
But if you cannot find local heavy cream, whipping cream works perfectly well. And if you want to give it a little bit of extra flavor, some vanilla extra and maybe some sweetener added before whipping are lovely.
One thing you’ll notice: this jelly is golden brown rather than bright green. That’s the color of the mint infusion, and it carries through to the finished dessert. You can add a little green food coloring if you prefer, but I like letting the color come from the garden, too.
This recipe is quite straightforward, with only a few ingredients. But if you are like me, and don't necessarily remember to put gelatin on your shopping list, know that you can find Knox gelatin envelopes online. In bulk, no less. And the same principles that make this mint jelly dessert can also be used to make any other flavored mint jello-style dessert. So get a few extra packets of gelatin, and have fun!
In addition, I absolutely recommend buying staples in bulk.. like cane sugar. For those days when the craving for dessert hits.
And some pretty serving dishes wouldn't go amiss either...
No. This is a Jell-O style dessert. The mint jelly you might use as a condiment is ideally made with pectin, not gelatin. That said, this dessert would be a great accompaniment to a lamb dinner!
I use a combination of peppermint and chocolate mint, but I think most types of mint should make a good mint jelly.
If you were wondering "wait, there's more than one type of mint?" - yes! You can read about some of the various types of mint in my mint growing guide.
Yes! But you will need to at least double the amount of mint if you are using dried mint.
Mint infusion (and by extension, jelly) is naturally golden brown. The leaves do not produce green juice. The green color you see in mint jelly from the store is produced via food coloring - which you can certainly add if you like the effect.
The gelatin (or jelly) should be firm in 2-3 hours. But for the optimal firmness, allow it to chill overnight, or 6-8 hours.
Yes! This dessert does wonderfully when made a day - or two - ahead of time, and allowed to chill in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.
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